Egyptian FM discusses with Cypriot president energy projects, increasing direct investment

CAIRO – 8 February 2024: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry met Thursday with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia as well as his counterpart Constantinos Kombos.

The talks between Minister Shokry and President Christodoulides focused on cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, fisheries, trade, investment, maritime transport, and tourism. That is in addition to energy as the two sides stressed the importance of eliminating any obstacles facing planned joint projects in that strategic sector.

Minister Shokry also suggested hiring seasonal Egyptian workers, and stressed the salience of increasing Cypriot direct investment making the country a departure point to Arab and African markets. In that framework, the two sides agreed on holding the second joint supreme meeting as soon as possible to turn agreements into contracts.

The talks also covered the trilateral cooperation mechanism - consisting of Greece -  and ways of leveraging it in countering challenges in the Mediterranean. Further, Minister Shokry said that Egypt looked forward to hosting the next tripartite summit to also transform trilateral MoUs into reality.  

As for the meeting with the Cypriot foreign minister, it thoroughly tackled the current crisis in Gaza Strip as Shokry and Kombos exchanged views on the implementation of UN Security Council resolution no. 2720 on facilitating the delivery of aid to Gaza.

 

In a similar context, the two sides agreed on pushing for a ceasefire in order to avoid the expansion of the scope of conflict in the region. That is along with encouraging the resumption of a peace process that would lead to the two-state solution, establishing a Palestinian State on the borders of June 4, 1967. The two ministers equally conferred over the political and security updates in Libya and Syria.